


Superpowered Short Stories

by Phoenix_Ryzing



Series: Original Fiction [1]
Category: superheroes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Child Death, Destruction, Gen, Gods, Mass Death, Murder, One Shot, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, Short One Shot, Superheroes, Superpowers, Supervillains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 15:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19405741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Ryzing/pseuds/Phoenix_Ryzing
Summary: Just a collection of one-shot stories featuring superheroes, supervillains, side-kicks, and more! If it involves ordinary people with extraordinary abilities, it belongs here. The rush of victory and the agony of defeat; lives saved, lives lost; the age of myths in the 21st century.Every chapter is a new story (unless marked otherwise) with new characters, so jump around as you please! No need to read 50 years of material to understand what's happening  ; )Rated T for Terror, Destruction, and Mass Murder. Nothing more graphic than what would appear in a comic book, but not suitable for wide-eyed innocents either.Anyways, superheroes, away!





	1. Test of Character

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a story by https://caffeinewitchcraft.tumblr.com  
> about her character Ominous (story taken down).
> 
> Warnings: city destruction, lots of death, mild body horror
> 
> Character: Ominous 

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

It was supposed to end with the streets lined with people cheering, a red carpet rolled out for the parading heroes, gold confetti in the air.

Not this… destruction.

Ominous looked around the burning city, shaking her head. This was wrong, this was all _wrong_. The heroes were supposed to win. They were supposed to have defeated her. It wasn’t like she made it _that_ hard.

She sighs and removes her helmet, coughing at the noxious smoke that filled the air. Around her whole buildings were in flame, window and steel burning from the napalm bombs she had set off. 

Slowly she removed her black-and-blue armor, then packed it away inside the motorcycle helmet. She wanted to help, and she couldn’t do that as Ominous.

The first victim she found was charred to a crisp, their clothes melted into their skin. A civilian. _Where were the heroes?_ Ominous thought. _They had a three-hour countdown! Why didn’t they evacuate the buildings?!_

There wasn’t anything she could do for this corpse, so she moved on. She paced up and down the streets, absently dodging falling fire and piles of debris. Anything that hit her just slid off the forcefield she always wore, even as Sarah, not Ominous. As Lightbringer.

Her yellow-and-white catsuit stood out in the reds and blacks of the surrounding city, but still, she heard no cries for help, no sighs of relief, no- anything.

It was just… silence. Aside from the collapsing buildings and crackling flames, there wasn’t a sound to be heard.

 _Maybe they did evacuate the city_ Ominous-Sarah- _Lightbringer_ \- thought. _Maybe that’s why it’s quiet. Maybe-_

But the piles of corpses said otherwise. The streets were littered with them, corpses of people burned, crushed, or simply choked from the smoke. And still Ominous didn’t see anyone. And oddly-

 _Where are the HEROES corpses?_ Ominous thought. _Surely that’s why the city is still in flames, hours later?_

Lightbringer crossed-and re-crossed the town, looking for anyone alive. But it seemed if anyone survived, they had fled. Lightbringer shook her head. _They ran like rats on a burning ship…_

Eventually she found the outskirts of the city. She headed for a little hut that seemed abandoned, but one she knew the heroes used as a HQ. She hadn’t bombed it- this was an _easy_ test- and the fires hadn’t traveled this far. She pushed open the sagging wooden door, and stopped dead.

Inside were a group of heroes, all scattered on various pieces of over-stuffed furniture, mostly dozing. She sputtered, then asked, “Where the _hell_ were you?!”

A burly guy- Slam- looked up critically and asked, “Where were _you_ Lighty?”

“I was out of town,” she said. “I just drove back, and searched the city- you realize there’s are _dozens_ dead out there, right?! Where the hell were you?!”

A thin stretchy guy rolled his head over to look at her, and said, “Waiting for you.”

Lightbringer froze. “Waiting for- _what?”_

 _“_ It was a test,” a girl in blazing-flame clothes replied. “We were, ya know, seeing if you cared.”

“You have arrived late to every disaster for the last three years,” a ebony-skinned woman said, looking up from her book. “We were seeing if you truly were a hero, or not.”

“And apparently it’s _not_ ,” Slam said, leaning towards her, causing Lightbringer to take a step back.

“I- of course-” she stammered, but Eruption rolled her eyes and said, “Dudette, if ya were, you wouldn’t be three hours late, duh. The news like was broadcasting a call to arms like two hours ago.”

Lightbringer winced. She hadn’t-

“So spill it bitch,” Lasso said, rising to his eight-foot height and extending an arm to choke Lightbringer. “You just a coward? Didn’t wanna risk getting napalmed? Come on!”

Lightbringer pretended to choke, and gasped out, “I was- seeing if ya’ll- cared.” Her eyes flashed and she hissed, “Apparently not.”

Psyche laughed, tears streaming down her face. “Stow it Light, you can just heal them all! Why’d we worry?!”

Lightbringer… blinked. “You know I can’t heal dead people,” she said. “Not true dead people.”

Psyche stopped laughing and said, “What? But you’ve-”

“Healed people who died within twenty minutes, and thus, had functional brains. After the brain goes, I can’t do anything,” she explained.

Slam slammed his foot on the ground. “All the more reason to be on time! But you never are!”

“But you guys were supposed to be there!” Lightbringer protested. “Why weren’t you there?! Do you really care more about a silly test than people’s lives?!”

“Do you?” Eruption asked, looking at her with a piercing gaze. “Come on Ominous. This was a test wasn’t it?”

Lightbringer flinched. “What- how-?”

Psyche sighed and closed her book. “I _am_ a telepath. One day I passed you while you were in civilian dress- thinking about your next heist. Didn’t take too long to figure it out.”

Lightbringer gulped. “So you- what? Why not capture me?”

“You care,” Psyche said simply. “I can sense that even through your protector. You want to be a hero.”

“Ya. We were like, seeing which side you’d choose,” Eruption said.

Lasso withdraw his hand and added, “You always let us win, Lighty. So we thought-”

“-You were really a hero,” Slam finished. He stood and walked over to her, as near as he could with the forcefield. “So choose, Sarah.”

Sarah just stood there, staring. A million thoughts ran through her mind- but one stood out.

She curled her lip, and her voice dropped two octaves as she said, “You thought I cared. Yes, I care. Care that I have someone to play with. Heroes, civilians, it didn’t matter. But you guys have lost your spark, and now this city’s dead. So it’s time to move on.”

She snapped her fingers, and a bomb appeared in her hands. The others started, and Slam sputtered, “But- you’re a healer!”

Sarah just laughed, her voice almost glitching. “I’m a _god_. I think you know me best as Caren. And now- goodbye,” she said, throwing the bomb through the forcefield and watching as it exploded into liquid flame. Instantly the heroes started to scream as flesh melted and bones charred, but it only lasted a second before they cried no more.

She- he- _Caren-_ just shrugged, and strode out of the building. _Now to find new prey. Hopefully this batch of duffers will be more fun._

And behind them, the city burned…


	2. Convince Me to Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Charity, Nemesis
> 
> Warnings: mass murder, general destruction , corpses

"Convince me. To stop. To listen to you. Go on," they said, voice echoing hollowly in the metal chest of what they called a body.

Charity looked up, eyes filled with defeat, with remorse, with unspeakable pain--but not because of her torn wings or the broken arm she clutched to her charred chest. But because of what she could see that the other couldn't- the pinpoints of bright little souls, all slowly winking out...

"I'm waiting," they said, snapping Charity back to reality. She looked at the impassive steel face, then lowered their blue eyes to the ground. 

"I- I can't," she muttered, voice choking on her words. "I can't," she said louder, voice rising in distress as she continued, "Y-you're a villain! Why would you care?!"

They shrugged. "Depends on who you ask," they said, swinging their sword up so it rested on their shoulder. "Some call me a hero you know."

Charity sputtered, "W-who would ever call a murderer like you a hero?!"

"I'm a Nemesis," they said, shrugging again. "My victims hate me, the ones who've lost loved ones love me. I can't-" they broke off and looked away, expression breaking. "I can't care about it."

"Why." Charity stated, struggling to sit and crying from the pain. "Why destroy this city?! Why lead an army here to raze it to the ground?! Who paid you?!"

Nemesis' face hardened. "I don't accept bribes," they said coldly, still staring at the burning city around them, at the soldiers who ran between buildings, sniping anyone who was still alive. "I don't accept bribes," they said again, looking Charity in the face. "I just kill those who needs to die."

"How can this many need to die?!" Charity exclaimed. "Do you- do you know how many-?!"

"Thirty-seven thousand, five hundred and eighty-seven people," Nemesis stated, causing Charity to recoil. "That's the census, yes?"

"Y-yes," Charity said. "How-?"

"Research," Nemesis stated. "Needed to know how many soldiers to bring. As for your question- only one needs to die truly. The rest are collateral."

Charity gaped at them. "C-collateral?! You would call 37,586 lives _collateral?!"_

Nemesis stared her down, and gave a small nod. "Yes. For the creature we seek--it has caused far more deaths that that. It's a shapeshifter, you see," Nemesis explained, looking around again. "We know it's here. So we're killing everyone until we find it."

Charity felt like her gut had been punched out. "A-all this- _for one shapeshifter you don't even know is here?!?!"_

"Oh, we know it's here," Nemesis said, closing their eyes. A red aura grew around them, then suddenly pulsed outward. Charity cried out, but the light passed harmlessly over her and out into the collapsing city. "I can sense it," Nemesis muttered. "It's eaten so many souls... it's easy to track. It's reading..."

Their eyes flew open. They quickly grabbed a walky-talky and barked into it, "Stop shooting! The target is down, repeat, the target is down! Identify the body, stat!"

Charity looked on in dull wonder. "So. It's that simple. You can track this thing."

Nemesis nodded. "I can see souls- well, soul energy." They looked levelly at Charity and said, "Just like you, I take."

Charity flinched backwards at that, saying, "Y-yes. H-how did- how did you-?"

"Your eyes," Nemesis said pointing, causing Charity to blink rapidly. "They glowed gold a moment there. Mine used to, back when I was truly alive. Now," they said, walking forward and easily picking Charity up, despite the latter being the same height as the former. "I'll show you this villain."

Charity just winced and cried from the pain of being moved. _Why are they doing this?_ she thought. _W- what's the point? It won't bring anyone back... it won't...._

Nemesis strode calmly forward, eyes straight ahead they weaved between the destruction. Charity tried not to puke when she saw the charred bodies and half-melted steel coalescing on once-living flesh. She tried and failed to not vomit when she heard groans and gasping screams of the still living, begs and pleases for the dark steel warrior to stop, to help them, to save them--

Nemesis seemed blind and deaf for all that they reacted. Charity eventually just gave up and hung limply in Nemesis' arms, watching dully as the soldier meet up with their men and was led to the body. 

"Huh. Expected it to be... bigger," they said, leaning down to see over Charity's torso at the small corpse below. "But it has to be it," they said, trailing their eyes along the once-human arm to the long green-and-black tendril it became.

"Right sir, unless there are other shapeshifters..." the captain said, but Nemesis shook their head.

"No, we got them all. Sam was all that was left."

The proper name caused Charity to stir and loll their head around to see the body. 

She blinked.

And slowly, started to cry, a sound that rose to a ear-piercing scream. "He's a boy!" she shouted. "Just a little _boy!"_

The corpse at their feet was one of a small boy, maybe five years old, naked except for blood and the scales, fur, and slime that intermittently covered it's form. Charity looked on in horror and wept to see such a young one killed.

Nemesis was unmoved, and put Charity on the ground next to it, then kneeling besides the corpse. Their eyes glowed red, and they said after a moment, "It's h- it. So many souls consumed..." they muttered. "Sixty-seven hundred thousand at least..."

"They did cause the destruction of Washington D.C.," the captain said helpfully. "That alone would have caused most of that number."

Nemesis nodded. "Right. Ground zero. This monster took out so many lives that day..." they shook their head. "And all for what? Did we ever learn?"

The captain started to speak when Charity looked up at them, golden eyes piercing. "You're wrong," she said. "You're _wrong_. This boy- he hasn't killed anyone!"

"The evidence says otherwise," Nemesis said dryly. "I've seen it first-hand. The boy touches a body and it vanishes, leaving only ash in return."

"But he hadn't- they're not dead!" Charity exclaimed. "They're just-"

"If you're gunna say in Heaven, that's still dead," Nemesis said.

Charity looked down. "But they _are_ ," she whispered. "I can sense it. All those souls- they aren't consumed. They're in paradise."

"But not on Earth. Not here. Not where they _need_ to be," Nemesis said, standing up.

They loomed over Charity and said, "Besides. Why are you so okay with them being dead and not the city?" they asked, sweeping their hand over the smoke-filled horizon. "What makes these men and woman so special?"

"B-because..." Charity said, staring at the ground. "They weren't _saved_. They'll _burn_."

Nemesis grunted contemptuously. "Is that all you angels care about? Hoarding people for you're 'paradise'?"

Charity looked up, eyes flashing. "At least I'm not a demon like you, wanting everyone miserable!"

Nemesis hung their head back and groaned. "A- _gain_ with the demon comments! I'm so sick of them. So what if I'm a demon?! Since when do I act like one?!"

"In destroying a city," Charity said bluntly.

"To save ten more," Nemesis pointed out. "The thing didn't just destroy D.C. It destroyed every other city between here and there."

Charity looked away, at the still body beside her on the tarry asphalt, then said brokenly, "This boy- he only sent people to Heaven. T-that's his power. While you-"

"Let people make their own choice," Nemesis interrupted. 

"Why would anyone choose to live in Hell?!" Charity exclaimed. 

Nemesis shrugged. "It's not _that_ bad there. At least you aren't anyone's slave," they said, making a face.

"No, you just burn forever," Charity said deadpan. "Totally better."

"You get used to it," Nemesis said with a shrug. "But I let people chose," they said, then kicked Sam's corpse. "This thing never did. No, he just murdered everyone indiscriminately."

"He was just trying to save them!" Charity exclaimed. "To save them from freaks like _you!_ "

"How do you know that?" Nemesis said, eyes piercing. "How do you know he didn't just murder them for fun?"

"He's a _kid!_ Kids don't do that!" Charity replied, aghast.

"And kids don't understand 'the greater good' either, so I doubt he killed them for that reason," Nemesis retorted. 

"But--!" Charity started, but the captain cleared his throat, interrupting her. 

"Nemesis, if I may, we need to head out," he said, and Nemesis looked over and nodded.

"Correct. The army will be here soon enough. Round up the men, we'll head to the plains base," they said, turning and starting to walk away--

\--when Charity caught them by the arm. "You aren't just _leaving!_ " she exclaimed. "Not while everyone is still dying!" she said, motioning towards the screams.

Nemesis didn't turn, and replied, "That's your job, not mine. Demon, remember? I can't heal anyone," they said, glancing at Charity. "So if you're quite done arguing, maybe you can save someone, hmm?" they said, shaking off Charity's arm and striding off, the captain falling in line behind them.

"Wait!" Charity cried, but Nemesis ignored her and kept walking. "You can't . . . " she said weakly, falling to the ground. They wouldn't listen.

And around her, the city burned . . . .


	3. Time-Freeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Josh, unnamed cop
> 
> Warning: police

It wasn't the most useful ability.

I mean, not being able to _move_ made freezing time less useful. No walking around pulling pranks on people, no sneaking into restricted areas, no stealing stuff between the ticks of the clock.

But it was killer for reflexes.

Josh looked around the empty parking lot as best as he could, mentally heaving a sigh. Okay. The cop was maybe fifty paces away, gun pointed right at him. Josh could just make out the flash of gunfire from the tip. Alright. The bullet would graze his right shoulder, and the cop was poised like he'd swing the gun and keep firing. _If I drop in a combat roll he'll miss me... worth a shot._

Josh blinked, then lunged as time wobbled and restarted. He hissed as the bullet hit his shoulder, but smiled as he heard the next shot breeze by. 

He rolled to the side and got to his feet, freezing time just as he got the cop in sight again.

Okay, the officer was setting her feet to dash forward. That means...

He jumped to the side as the cop rushed past him with a cry, "Stop moving! Surrender now and it'll go better for you!"

Josh laughed and raced away, making sure to keep the cop in sight as he headed for the fence at the back of the lot. The cop cursed and spun on her heel- freezing as Josh was mid-step.

He took a second to catch his proverbial breathe, double checking that the jewelry in his pockets wasn't about to fall out. Good, it was still secure. _Now three more step, jump on the fourth, catch the top and hop over-_

He took a second to check the cop- she was raising her gun again- would probably fire before he reached the fence. Drat. But if he weaved-

Time sped up as he hopped to the side, then stuttered as he paused it after each step to track the cop. She fired- but just missed as he grabbed the fence and swung his body up and over.

Josh hit the wooded ground on the other side with a thud, then quickly darted off to the side and deeper into the little patch of woods between the scattered stores. He kept freezing time to see if the cop was following him, but it seemed she didn't like fence hopping.

Eventually, he broke the woods and started jogging up towards his house. He smiled as he ran. _I coulda used this to do homework fast, or take an eternity on a test, but-_

_It wouldn't be this FUN_.


	4. Iconoclast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Silver, Iconoclast 
> 
> Warnings: Cult, city destruction, mass murder

"Well Silver? Do you have an explanation?" a woman asked, her chair spinning around to face him, the video playing idly in the background.

Silver just stared at the ground, and muttered, "It was the only way."

"Excuse me?" the woman asked, gazing intently at him, her hands pointed. "Care to repeat that?"

"It was the only way Psyche," Silver said, looking up at her. "See for yourself."

"I _am_ seeing. I see a city razed to the ground by an evil man."

Silver held his chin up and said, "But he's dead. The monster is dead."

Psyche shook her head. "The cost... the cost was far to high. All this, for one man's death?"

"I needed to catch him red-handed. That way the news wouldn't make a martyr of him."

Psyche sighed and rubbed her face. Then she got up and looked around the command center, where various screens depicted various fights. "Did they?" she asked.

Silver shook his head. "No. The great Iconoclast has fallen. He'll be remembered just for destroying Joirin, for murdrering hundreds of people."

"Such a sad end," Psyche said, walking over to a certain screen which displayed the news. "And the cult leaders?"

"Got out in time. Iconoclast was none too clever."

Psyche smiled for the first time. "Good. Too bad we lost our HQ, but at least we took down that meddling "hero."" 

Silver smiled wolfishly. "Yes, indeed. The Father will be quite pleased with us."

He was still smiling when Psyche strode over and whipped an ebony hand across his pale face. Silver sputtered and said, "What was that for?!"

"For destroying our HQ. _Next time_ come up with a better plan, you here?!"

Silver rubbed his face and muttered compliance. Then, louder, he added, "What's my next job?"

"There's a meddler over in the next state- going on about how we murder babies or whatever. Can't they see we must keep down the population? Besides, they all go to the Father in the end."

Silver nodded sagely. "Yes. What's one death or twenty? Now, what was his name?"

"Her's. Candance, apparently. Candance White. Take care of her, will you? And with less deaths?"

Silver saluted. "Yes ma'am!"and he strode out of the room.

Psyche watched him go, and turned back to the original video screen. The clip showed their HQ blowing up, Iconoclast's horrified reaction, Silver yelling at him... a gunshot rang out over blankness. Good. The news would like that.

She returned to her files. "Now, there protests in Hamilton and Yurio... we'll need to send men then to suppress it... and over here they're leading a defamation campaign... oh yes, and the new cult bylaws need updated..." she sighed. Always busy. She was always busy.

But that's what you get when you try to take over the world...


	5. A God's Execution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Wound, Heron
> 
> Warnings: Murder

"It wasn't supposed to end this way. It was supposed to end with the crowd cheering me on, a red carpet lining the streets," a muscular man said, idly brushing something off his pristine white-and-gold jumpsuit.

"You _blew up the city WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?!"_ a young lad retorted, his dark uniform ripped in so many places it barely covered his scar-riddled skin. "Heron, what the hell?!"

Heron's eyes flashed and he backhanded the boy, sending him crashing onto the concrete. "Enough boy! I won't hear insults from a two-bit nobody like you," he said, turning away contemptuously to glare at the walls of their prison cell. 

The boy stood up and spat, "The name's Wound you prick," he said, wiping blood off his chin. "Just remember, if I hadn't been there, you'd still be bleedin' on the streets."

Heron gave a laugh, a grating sound that bounced off the steel-enforced walls. "A god like me can't die you silly boy," he said with a shake of his head.

"God? How far up you own ass are you?!" Wound demanded. "And look at me when I'm talking to you!" he said, as Heron continued to stare at the wall.

The angelic figure waved his hand. "I need to concentrate. These walls were made so that no mere mortal can break them, but I'm no mortal," he said with a chuckle.

Wound rolled his eyes and sat on the cot bolted to the wall. "Right, great, you're insane. Shoulda known," he said, lying down with a heavy groan.

That did gain Heron's attention, and he slowly turned around and paced over to where Wound was attempting sleep. "What did you say?" he asked in a near-whisper.

Wound opened one eye and said, "You're insane. Pretty obvious. No wonda ya thought blowin' up a city was a good idea--what, did they not worship you enough?" he asked with a laugh.

"It was for the greater good, to stop the League. I--" Heron started, but Wound starting dying of laughter.

"The greater good?! Are you joking?! News flash, the League cleared out last week! All you did was murder a bunch of helpless civilians!" At that he sobered up immediately, and added with a glare, "Some god you are if you didn't know even _that_."

"Be quiet, heathen," Heron said softly. "I hardly expect a mortal like you--"

"Oh and another thing. How would a napalm bomb stop Starburst? Or Plizon? Or ████████? What kind of god are you--the one who can't snap things out of existence?" Wound asked.

"Shut up," Heron said, glaring down at the scrawny boy. "A god must be responsible to not upset the balance--"

"Oh, and blowing up _Chicago_ doesn't upset the balance?!" Wound shouted, pushing himself up by his arms. "You know _how many people_ died?! How many were past saving?! It was a slaughter-house out there! And it's all because you're a big, fat idiot!"

"SHUT UP!" Heron roared, slamming Wound in the jaw--then crying out as his own jaw shattered into a thousand pieces.

Heron stumbled back, clutching his ruined chin and roaring in pain. Wound just watched him, dark eyes seemingly to glow with black light. "Did you think my power wasn't reversible?" he asked softly, and suddenly, Heron let out a guttural scream as his bones snapped and his flesh tore, collapsing to the ground as his blood gushed out.

As the would-be god lay dying, Wound walked to stand over him. "You really shouldn't have hit me," he said softly. "I was going to pardon you by reason of insanity--but clearly you're a threat to society," he said, looking up at the cell door that swung open.

Two armed men came in, one holding the door for Wound to walk out, saluting as he did so. 

He was the leader of the Federation, after all. 


End file.
